Will you please turn to Matthew 24?
Matthew 24:3:
And as our Lord was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when shall these things be, and what is the sign of Thy coming and the completion of the age?”
Matthew 24:37-39:
But as the days of Noah, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
For as they were in the days which were before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day on which Noah entered into the ark,
and they knew not till the flood came and took all away; thus also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:27:
For as the lightning goes forth from the east and shines to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
Shall we pray?
Lord, we are in Thy presence, and we do remove our shoes because we are standing on holy ground. We ask, Lord, that Thou wilt deliver us from all that is of the flesh, of ourselves.
We pray that at this very moment Thou wilt speak through Thy Word to us, that we may not only understand, but we may enter into the spirit of Thy Word.
Lord, we do pray that Thy coming may not just be acknowledged to us, but we ask that Thou create within us a longing for Thy coming.
Lord, we do commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thy Holy Spirit to do the work that Thou hast ordained for this hour. We give Thee all the praise and glory and honor, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
As you know, we three brothers have our different assignments. My assignment is on the Olivet Discourse, which is recorded in Matthew 24 and Matthew 25.
During my first session, we shared on the signs of the times. Brothers and sisters, we are living in the end time, the last of the last days. It behooves us to know the signs of our time.
The reason is not that we may have some knowledge, but that, knowing the signs of the times, we may know how to behave. We may know how to be ready, prepared before the Lord.
Now this morning, we would like to go a step further. We would like to consider together before the Lord the coming of the Lord, or the Parousia, because the word “coming” there is Parousia: the presence of the Lord.
In Matthew 23:39, our Lord Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He said:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, ye shall in no wise see Me henceforth until ye say, “Blessed be He that comes in the name of the Lord.”
Our Lord Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem. He had visited that city time after time during His three-and-a-half years or so of journeying in this world. But this was the last time He came to Jerusalem before His crucifixion.
He looked over that city again, and He wept over that city. He said, “How I long to put you under My wings, as the hen covers the chickens, but you would not. Therefore, your house will be left unto you desolate.”
Then He said, “You shall in no wise see Me henceforth until you say, ‘Blessed be He that comes in the name of the Lord.’” Or, literally, “Blessed is the Coming One in the name of the Lord.”
In other words, the Lord said, “I have come to you again and again, and now this is the last time. I am going to leave you. You will not see Me again. I will be absent until the day that you say, ‘Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.’”
So there you find our Lord Jesus before His departure from Jerusalem, from the nation of Israel. It would be a long absence, but He promised that He would come again. When they say, “Blessed is the Coming One in the name of the Lord,” that is the time He will return.
Our Lord Jesus, about two thousand years ago, came the first time. When He came the first time, He came as the Lamb of God. He came to save, not to condemn.
But He will come the second time, and when He comes the second time, He will come as the Lion of Judah, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He will come to judge and to rule.
As His first coming is a fact, so shall be His second coming.
In Matthew 24, when the Lord left Jerusalem and left the temple, you remember the disciples came to Him and said, “Look at these stones and this beauty—magnificent, glorious.”
And yet the Lord said, “There shall be no stone upon another stone.” In other words, there would be complete ruin.
So the disciples came to the Lord privately when He sat on the Mount of Olives and said, “When shall these things be? And what is the sign of Thy coming and of the completion of the age?”
We already mentioned that “When shall these things be?” refers to not one stone being left upon another stone. This was literally fulfilled in A.D. 70.
But then the disciples asked, “When shall these things be? And what is the sign of Thy coming and of the completion of the age?”
Of course, the disciples at that time did not know that there was a time gap between the destruction of Jerusalem and the sign of His coming and the completion of the age. To them, they thought all these things ran together. If Jerusalem should be destroyed, if the temple were destroyed, then suddenly the end of the age would come and the Lord would return.
They did not know, but we know today that there is the church age, the dispensation of grace, the longsuffering of our Lord Jesus.
“When shall these things be?” has been fulfilled. Now the question is, “What is the sign of Thy coming and of the completion of the age?” The disciples believed in the coming of the Lord.
The coming of the Lord in which they believed does not refer to His coming in the Holy Spirit. We remember in John 14 that our Lord Jesus said, “Do not be grieved. I am going, but it is for your good. I will come back again. I will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to you, and He will dwell in you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
The Lord said, “I am coming to you. I am coming.” But, of course, in John 14, when He said, “I am coming,” that refers to His coming in the Holy Spirit.
But when the disciples asked Him, “What is the sign of Thy coming?” it did not refer to His coming in the Holy Spirit. Thank God He has come in the Holy Spirit. He is with us today. He never leaves us nor forsakes us, and this is true.
But the coming that the disciples asked of Him did not refer to this. They referred to the physical coming of our Lord Jesus. As His first coming was physical, so shall be His second coming. As His first coming was literal, so shall be His second coming.
So, brothers and sisters, we are not talking this morning about the spiritual coming of our Lord Jesus—His coming in the Spirit. Thank God He has already come. But we are talking about His second coming.
Just as He came the first time, He will come physically. There will be His presence in this world, and this is the coming that we are considering together.
In order to know about the coming of the Lord, I think it is necessary for us to know the word “coming.” In Greek, there are different words used that are translated as “coming” in English. Basically, there are three different words.
One is Parousia. The coming that is used here in Matthew is this very word, Parousia. And Parousia simply means “presence.” So the coming of the Lord here is actually the presence of the Lord.
This word is used in the New Testament twenty-four times. Seven times it refers to men, but seventeen times it refers to our Lord Jesus.
For the sake of your looking these up later, I will just give you the references:
In these seventeen places, the word “coming” is Parousia: the presence of the Lord.
Another word used for His coming is apokalypsis. It means uncovering, or revelation. This word is used in 1 Peter 1:7, 13; 1 Peter 4:13; 1 Corinthians 1:7; and 2 Thessalonians 1:7.
There is a third word, epiphaneia, and this word means appearing. It is used in 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13; and 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
Aside from these three Greek words, there is another word related to the word “coming”: erchomai. It means “to come”; it is a verb.
Now it is very important to understand the word Parousia, because the lack of understanding of the meaning of that word causes much confusion among God’s people when we talk about the coming of the Lord.
I will give you two definitions of this word Parousia. In Vine’s dictionary of New Testament Greek words, he says that Parousia literally is “a presence.”
Para means “with,” and ousia means “being.” It denotes both an arrival and a consequent presence with.
Paul speaks of his Parousia in Philippians 2:12, in contrast to his apousia, his absence. When he wrote a letter to the Philippians, he told them that he expected to be present with them. He was expecting to be released from the Roman prison and to be present with them, just as at the time he was writing he was absent from them.
The same word is also used to describe the presence of Christ with His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. There our Lord Jesus took three disciples up to the mount, and He was transfigured there. The word used is Parousia: His presence with them.
When this word is used of the return of the Lord and the rapture of the church, it signifies not merely His momentary coming for His saints, but His presence with them from that moment until His revelation and manifestation to the world.
Now that is Vine. Another scholar said that the word Parousia was used in the first century in the East as a technical expression for the royal visit of a king or emperor. The word means “the being beside,” thus, the personal presence.
So we know that this word, Parousia, means presence.
It is a word that does not refer just to one event. It is a word that covers a series of events.
It is a word that does not refer just to one time. It is a word that is used to mean a period of time, and during that period of time a number of events happen.
Sometimes, when you read the Scripture and the word Parousia occurs, you find that it refers to the signs of the Parousia of the Lord. Just as in Matthew 24:3, the disciples said, “What is the sign of Thy Parousia, Thy presence?”
At other times, when the word is used, it speaks of the promise of His coming: “Where is the promise of His coming?” as in 2 Peter 3.
Sometimes this word refers to the fact of the Parousia, the very fact of His presence. At other times, it is used to show how we need to prepare for His presence, or how we shall stand before His presence. In other references, it speaks of what will happen at His presence.
So you find that the word “coming,” Parousia, actually covers a period of time and a series of events.
It does not refer just to one time or one event. That is the reason why today we are so confused about the coming of the Lord.
Ordinarily, we think of the coming of the Lord as His appearing upon this earth, and we think that is the coming of the Lord. Now, that is true. One day He shall be manifested; He shall appear to this world.
But that is only the end of the Parousia. Parousia has a beginning and has an end.
For the sake of understanding, I think the best way to explain it is to go back to the book of Acts. Will you please turn to Acts 1?
In Acts 1, we find that after the resurrection of our Lord, He appeared to His disciples for forty days. Then He led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and there He was to ascend up to heaven, returning to His Father.
The disciples gathered together before Him and asked Him, “Lord, is this the time that You will restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them:
It is not yours to know times or seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority. But ye shall receive power, the Holy Spirit having come upon you, and ye shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:9-11 says:
And having said these things, He was taken up, they beholding Him, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
And as they were gazing into heaven as He was going, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, Who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.”
The Lord was taken up to heaven. They saw Him going up, and then a cloud took Him. They could not see Him, but they were still gazing upward.
While they were gazing upward, two men appeared in white garments and said, “Men of Galilee, why are you looking up? The same Jesus Who was taken up from you, He shall come back in like manner.”
In different versions, you find “in like manner,” “in the same way,” “in the way,” or “in the manner.” It means the same thing. In other words, the way He returns will be the same way that He went.
Now, how did the Lord Jesus go? You find that the Lord Jesus was among others, and from among others He was taken up.
When He was taken up from the Mount of Olives, the disciples all saw Him. Then a cloud took Him, and when the cloud took Him, could they see Him anymore? No, they could not see Him. But He was still ascending.
How do we know that He ascended to heaven? You remember when Elijah was taken up. The sons of the prophets did not believe. They told Elisha, “Allow us to have a search party, because probably God has taken him and thrown him somewhere else.”
So they had a search party, but they could not find him, because the Lord had taken him.
So, brothers and sisters, we know that the Lord left the Mount of Olives. We know that He went up. But how do we know that He arrived in heaven? Where is the evidence? How do we know?
Thank God, we know. Number one: on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured down.
Our Lord Jesus was taken up to heaven, and there, as He entered into heaven, He was anointed by God as Christ, the Lord.
In Psalm 133, we see that picture: the ointment fell upon the head of Aaron, flowed down to his beard, and flowed down to cover his garments, even to the skirts of his garment.
That is the picture. Our Lord Jesus ascended up to heaven and became our High Priest. He was anointed by God, and because He was anointed, the Holy Spirit came down upon the church.
So on the day of Pentecost, we find that the Holy Spirit came. That is the proof that our Lord Jesus had arrived in heaven and was anointed as the Lord of the universe, as the Anointed One of God.
There is another proof. You find it in Revelation 5. There John, in the Spirit, was taken up to heaven, and there he saw a representation of the ascension of our Lord Jesus.
One was sitting on the throne with a little book in His hand, the title deed of the universe. Then an angel with a mighty voice proclaimed, “Who is worthy to take that book and open the seals?”
The voice was heard in heaven and earth and under the earth, but nobody was worthy. Because of that, John wept, because he understood that this little book was the title deed of the universe. If there was no one able to take it and open the seals—that is, to execute the eternal plan of God—then everything was finished.
Then one of the twenty-four elders comforted him and said, “Weep not, because there is One Who is worthy: the Lion of Judah. He has overcome.”
Immediately John saw a Lamb, newly slain, standing before the throne. He took from the hand of the One on the throne that book.
And, brothers and sisters, what worship came forth in heaven! Not only the twenty-four elders and the living creatures, but there was a proclamation, and the whole universe worshiped and praised because there is One Who is worthy, and He is going to execute the plan of God.
That is evidence that we know our Lord Jesus has arrived.
So you find that in His going, the first stage was visible: from the Mount of Olives to the cloud. But the second stage was invisible: from the cloud to the throne.
These two men said, “He will come in like manner, in the same way.” Only it is in reverse order.
In other words, His Parousia, His presence, His coming, will begin with His leaving the throne and coming to the air. But that stage is invisible.
Then, in the second stage, He will come from the air to the Mount of Olives. As we find in Zechariah 14, His feet will touch the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Olives will break into two. That is visible.
So, brothers and sisters, His coming begins with His leaving the throne to come to the air, and then from the air to the earth. All these are included in His coming, the Parousia, the presence of the Lord.
Therefore, you find that it really includes a series of events.
You remember our Lord Jesus said His coming is like a thief. In Matthew 24, let us read from verse 42:
Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord comes.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Wherefore ye also be ready, for in an hour that ye think not, the Son of Man comes.
Here the Lord Jesus said, “We do not know the hour of His coming.” Nobody knows. We do not know the hour, nor the season, nor the time. Only the Father knows.
Our curiosity really takes hold of us. Throughout church history, among believers, there has always been that curiosity of knowing exactly the time, the hour, of His coming. We try to compute and figure out exactly what year, what month, what day, or even what hour He will be coming.
In church history, you find that people have been doing that, and many people have been deceived by it. Even recently, you find another such prediction, and many evangelical Christians have been taken up by it.
But the Lord has already told us, “You do not know.” He does not let us know, and the reason He does not let us know is that we may always be watchful, prepared, and ever ready.
If He should tell us that He will come in A.D. 2000, then, brothers and sisters, we would think we still had a few years in which we could live our lives and do our own things. Then, when He came near, we would wake up.
But the Lord knows our nature. That is the reason why He will not tell us. If He does not tell us, do not try to know, because you will not know anyway.
He said His coming is like a thief. If you know when the thief is coming, you will be prepared for him. Will the thief blow a trumpet and say, “I am coming”? No.
Today, when we think of the coming of the Lord, we connect it with the trumpet and the sound of the trumpet. Then the Lord comes. It is true: He will come with a trumpet. But He said He will come as a thief.
Strangely, a thief seems always to know when you are not ready. It seems as if he has an instinct. When you are prepared and ready, he does not arrive. But strangely, in the very moment that you are not watchful, he comes.
He will come quietly, secretly, unexpectedly. Suddenly, you find he has already come. He has stolen the best, and he is gone. That is the way he comes: invisible. A thief is almost like an invisible person.
That is the way the Lord will come: as a thief.
Strangely, He also said that His coming is like lightning. In Matthew 24, beginning at verse 21, we read:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be.
And if those days had not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Then if any man shall say unto you, “Lo, here is the Christ,” or, “Here,” believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Behold, I have told you beforehand.
If therefore they say unto you, “Behold, He is in the wilderness,” go not forth; “Behold, He is in the inner chambers,” believe it not.
For as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines unto the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
The great tribulation will come. Strictly speaking, this portion refers to the elect, the chosen people, the Jewish people, because the great tribulation to the Jewish people is Jacob’s trouble.
In the last days there will be Jacob’s trouble, as prophesied in Jeremiah. They will go through great trouble, and when they go through great trouble, of course they expect the Messiah to come to deliver them.
Because there is such an expectation within them, you will find false prophets and false Christs coming forth. They can even perform false wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
There will be prophets saying, “Christ has come. He is in the wilderness.” The Lord says, “Do not go forth.” Or some people will say, “He is hidden in the inner chambers,” very mysteriously. Do not believe it.
When He shall come, He shall come like lightning. When lightning strikes, it is seen from east to west. In other words, everybody sees it. It is public and open. Everybody sees Him.
That is the way He will come.
Now, brothers and sisters, it seems as if these two metaphors are contradictory. On the one hand, you find that He shall come as a thief: hidden, secret, invisible, suddenly. On the other hand, He shall come as lightning: public, open, visible. Everybody will know.
Is there any contradiction? No. The reason is that the word “coming,” Parousia, is presence. His presence begins like a thief and ends like lightning.
In other words, brothers and sisters, one day the Lord will come as a thief—without warning, without notice. Suddenly, He will come, and He will steal away those who are most precious to Him.
One day, suddenly, all over the world, you will find many absences. Certain people will have disappeared. That begins the Parousia.
After these are taken to the throne, then, as you find in Revelation 12, when the man-child is born, he will be taken to the throne. There will be war in heaven, and Satan will be thrown down from the air to the earth.
You know, the headquarters of Satan today is in the air. That is the reason why in Genesis 1, when God restored this ruined earth, on the second day, when He restored the firmament, He did not say it was good.
The air became the headquarters of the enemy. He is the evil power of the air, ruling over this earth as the air surrounds the earth.
But Satan will be thrown down from the air to the earth. Why? The air has to be cleared for the Lord to descend from the throne to the air. That is part of the Parousia, invisible to man.
When the Lord comes to the air with those who have already been taken, consider what will happen upon this earth.
When Satan is literally upon this earth with the two beasts—the antichrist and the false prophet, the trinity of evil—what can you expect in this world but the great tribulation, Jacob’s trouble?
It will be a great trial to those who still remain upon this earth. It will be a great trial to the Jewish people who believe in one God, because the beast will have an image set up, and everybody must worship him as God. They will not be allowed to worship any other.
The great tribulation will be going on upon this earth, and that is part of the Parousia.
After the great tribulation, you remember Revelation 14. You find One sitting on the cloud with a golden crown. He has a sickle in His hand, and the voice came from the throne and said, “The harvest is ready. Thrust in the sickle and reap the harvest.”
Who is the One sitting on the cloud with a crown of gold? He is our Lord. He is to harvest His people.
That is 1 Thessalonians 4. When the dead in Christ shall be raised, and those who live and remain—now remember, there is a word that says “live and remain.” In other words, there will be some living who do not remain; they have already gone.
The dead in Christ will be raised, and those who live and remain will be transformed. They will all be taken up into the air to meet the Lord in the air.
When that happens, there is the trumpet: the harvesting.
When the whole church is gathered in the presence of the Lord, there will be the judgment seat of Christ. Judgment will begin in the house of God. This is included in the Parousia.
Upon the earth, there will be the wrath of God poured forth as the seven bowls. The day of the Lord has come. These are included in the Parousia.
When these things come to an end, then our Lord Jesus will come with His army—called, chosen, and faithful. He will be revealed in great glory.
There will be the last war, the war of Armageddon. Satan will be bound, chained, and thrown into the bottomless pit. The false prophet and the antichrist will be cast into the lake of fire.
Brothers and sisters, that is the end of the Parousia. So you find that Parousia, the presence of the Lord, includes a period of time and covers a series of events.
Now, what is the sign of Thy coming—the sign of the presence of the Lord?
We have a beginning sign and an ending sign. The beginning sign is the rapture of the prepared saints.
Brothers and sisters, one day—we do not know when, probably at the most unexpected time—suddenly, all over the world, certain people will disappear.
When this happens, you know the Parousia has begun.
So far as I understand, there is no prophecy that must be fulfilled before this can happen. It is true that there are prophecies concerning His coming that remain to be fulfilled. But so far as I can understand, I cannot see any prophecy that must be fulfilled before that sign can happen.
It can happen at any moment. Brothers and sisters, that is the reason why we need to watch and pray. Blessed are those who are taken.
This will be the sign of the beginning of His coming.
There is another sign, the sign of the end of His coming. That is found in Matthew 24:30:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the land mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
We do not really know what that sign is. Different commentators throughout the centuries have tried to figure out what that sign is.
At the first coming of the Lord, there was a sign: the star of Bethlehem. So some commentators say that probably it is the star of Bethlehem. But that does not seem right, because only the wise men understood the star of Bethlehem. Other people saw the sign, but they did not know.
So it could not be that, because that sign must be one that people will know right away.
Other people think perhaps it is a kind of glory, Shekinah glory. Before you see the Son of Man coming, His glory shines forth. When you see the Shekinah glory of the Lord, that is the sign that He is coming.
I do not know. Some people say—and I agree with them—that it probably is the sign of the cross.
Why? Because when you read the context, you find that when that sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven, all the tribes of the land mourn. The tribes of the land always refer to the twelve tribes of Israel.
This agrees with Zechariah’s prophecy.
Brothers and sisters, to the Jewish people, the cross is a curse. They do not accept Christ crucified, because they are looking for a Christ sitting on the throne.
But one day, when the cross shall appear, they will weep, because the One Whom they crucified is their Messiah. He comes to deliver them.
It is then that all Israel shall be saved. So, brothers and sisters, it is possible that the sign of the end of the Parousia is the cross.
But, of course, when we talk about the sign of His coming, our purpose is not just trying to know these signs.
What is the good of knowing signs if you do not learn? What is the good of knowing the time if you do not behave?
Solomon said that the wise man’s heart knows time and judgment. What is important is this: in view of the imminent return of the Lord, in view of the coming of the Lord, which can happen at any moment and at any time, brothers and sisters, what is our attitude toward His presence?
Are we indifferent? We do not care whether He comes or He does not come.
Are our hearts totally occupied by eating and drinking and the cares of this life, so that we do not even think of His presence? His presence does not mean anything to us. We do not miss Him.
Brother, sister, do you miss Him?
I remember a poem written by our dear brother Watchman Nee. He wrote this after China was occupied by the Communists. I do not remember all the verses, but I remember that in that poem he said, “Since we part at Bethany.”
That is, since the Lord has departed, there is a void in my heart. Even though Thou art present with me in the Spirit, yet there is something missing.
Brothers and sisters, do we miss Him?
Are we like the prodigal son, wasting all the good property and inheritance we receive, and never thinking of the Father? What is our attitude?
Or are we like the evil servant, saying, “The Lord delays His coming”? Yes, He will come, but He has delayed His coming. He will not come now. He will not come this year. He will not come until after the twentieth century, perhaps in the twenty-first century.
If we have that kind of thinking, that will affect our life. We will beat our fellow servants. We will eat and drink with the drunkards. We will not be faithful and responsible for what the Lord has entrusted to us.
Then, at a time we do not expect, He will suddenly come. How can we meet Him?
Oh, brothers and sisters, are we afraid of His coming? We know that He is coming, but are we afraid? Secretly in our hearts, do we hope He will not come? Why? Because we are not ready.
Oh, we have some plans that have not been fulfilled yet. “Wait until I have finished everything, and then You can come.”
Brothers and sisters, are we afraid of His coming? Or do we welcome Him—looking forward, longing, pleading, praying, begging that He shall come? “Come quickly. Come now.”
Is that our attitude?
As a chaste virgin, espoused to a husband, longs for the wedding day, so shall we be as chaste virgins espoused to Christ, longing for the day of the marriage feast.
Brothers and sisters, what is our attitude? He is coming. But do you want Him to come? Are you ready for Him to come? Do you look forward to His coming? Do you hasten His coming?
May the Lord have mercy upon us. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast promised us that Thou wilt come back and receive us to Thyself.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee, Thou Who art the Bridegroom, looking forward to that day when Thou canst receive Thy bride unto Thyself.
But Lord, we who are Thy bride feel ashamed that, because we are not ready, we have delayed Thy coming.
Lord, we do pray that Thou create within us a longing for Thee, for Thy coming.
Lord, we do acknowledge that even though we do not see Thee, yet we love Thee. How much better if we can see Thee face to face.
O Lord, do create in us such a longing, such a desire. Restore to us that first love, that we may be the people who hasten Thy return.
Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.